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We Have A Lot Of Guns

Americans have a lot of guns. There are a lot of data showing that Americans have a lot of guns. The Guardian put together some such data – on world firearms murders and ownership — which you can sort through here. They also put together an interactive map with some of the data. No surprise, USA is #1 when it comes to gun ownership.

America is also near the top when it comes to percentage of homicides by firearm, though not so far out in the lead as with average ownership. Here, Latin America closes the gap.

Looking at Latin America, one thing about this data jumped out at me. Of course, it is not surprising that where there are more guns, there tends to be more gun-related deaths, but northern Latin America (Brazil in particular) breaks from this trend in a major way. The area has a massive homicide by firearm rate, with some of the lowest rates of gun ownership in the world and the highest homicides by firearm count. This suggests a lot of guns in the hands of very few, who are not afraid to use them. Talk about data telling a story…

That northern block of Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador combine for more homicides by firearm than Mexico, the United States, South Africa, the Philippines, Honduras, Guatemala, India, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Bangladesh, Argentina and Jamaica put together. That is every other country with over 1,000 homicides by firearm. You would imagine that gun control would be very lax in the area, but as the top chart here illustrates, that is not the case. Brazil, for example, has roughly 255 million fewer guns (and about 115 million fewer people) than the United States and a much more strict and effective set of firearm regulations. So, while it is true that where there are guns, there is gun violence, that is clearly not the only determining factor.

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“Brazil, for example, has roughly 255 million less guns (and about 115 million less people) than the United States and a much more strict and effective set of firearm regulations.”

Don’t worry, those 255 million guns are owned by the slumlords in the favelas. I assume they probably don’t register or report their gun ownership, considering they don’t really abide by many laws at all in general. My point is that the amount of guns owned per capita statistic is probably heavily skewed in many countries in which taking a census of these types of figures is either impossible or if possible, highly inaccurate.

“… Brazil, for example, has roughly 255 million fewer guns (and about 115 million fewer people) than the United States and a much more strict and effective set of firearm regulations.” I’ll grant you more strict, but how could them be more effective if they lead in homicide by firearm? Just asking.

Good point, I was not quite clear there. Effective in their goal of limiting the number of gun owners, making it difficult to obtain and even to retain ownership of a gun. However, changing the culture around those who do get guns is perhaps not an effect of their regulations.

What needs to be the basis for any argument on gun control and the problems inherent with it in the U.S. is our ranking among other “superpower” type nations. Look at the relative security of Canada, Germany, and the like. Areas where Americans that have been there know for sure you can walk about in darkness in a way that could never be possible in the States. I think that there is more to the gun violence in the US besides gun control; it is more about the gun culture. Albeit the culture in Europe is one of far less gun ownership, based on stringent gun laws.

So you’re comparing the US, richest nation on earth, relatively high standard of living across the populous, well financed and resourced law enforcement, with Brazil? Brazil, relatively wealthy country, but fledgling middle class where wealth isn’t distributed among the masses, high levels of poverty, law enforcement which isn’t as well financed. So what you’re actually saying is that the US should give themselves a pat on the back for not killing each other nearly as much as Brazil, a country completely different and riddled with corruption, poverty, drug cartels and crime. Is that right?

I think this article is interesting but it needs some editing! Sorry I´m like grammar police but Colombia the country has “o” and you spelled Columbia like the school in the United States. I won´t comment on the other ones because as I said, I do still think the information was interesting and as you said, the data really tells a story!